A wireless LAN is a local area network that transmits over the air and does not require a line site between a sending and receiving device. Typically, one or more wireless base stations, which are also referred to as access points, are wired to an Ethernet network, while wireless adapters are either built into or attached to client devices. The access points and the wireless devices communicate via radio frequency over an area of several hundred feet through walls and other barriers. If there are multiple access points as in a corporation, for example, then roaming devices can be handed-off from one access point to another. One example of a wireless LAN standard today is 802.11.
For short distances between two devices, a wireless personal area network (PAN) may be used, such as Bluetooth. Bluetooth is an open standard for short-orange transmission of digital voice and data between local devices, such as laptops, PDAs, imaging devices, phones, and desktop devices. Bluetooth supports point-to-point and multiple applications, and has a range of 10 meters up to 100 meters with a power boost. Infrared transmission (IrDA) may also be used for very short distances between two devices, however, IrDA requires line site between the two devices, while Bluetooth uses on the directional radio waves that can transmit through walls and other barriers.
One application for a wireless LAN is in the home for connecting two or more computers/devices. A home LAN is often the same Ethernet network found in companies, except that the home network is configured as one network, whereas a company may have many subnetworks for traffic and security purposes.
Not only is the number of wireless mobile devices being introduced to the market steadily increasing, but the types of devices equipped with wireless technology is also growing. For example, Bluetooth-enabled camcorders are now available. The problem is that the wireless devices are designed to work with a limited number of related products. Device manufacturers and network standard committees have yet to offer a “big picture” approach that deals with how wireless devices interact with networks in a rich environment in which a user may encounter multiple wireless networks in any given day simply by walking around with his or her wireless device. That is, each time a user's wireless device detects the presence of a wireless network, a user must perform manual configuration to enable the device to communicate with a network, even if the user encounters the same network day after day, such as with a network they have set up at their home. In some cases, access can be automatically established with a single network via password and ID or some security key, which was manually entered into the device to establish access the first time. However, when a different network is encountered, manual intervention is typically required to establish connection.
Although networks such as Bluetooth's piconet enable a set of devices owned by one person to communicate, and also allow for selected, user-enabled interactions with a wireless device owned by another person nearby, Bluetooth's protocol fails to provide an agreed-upon mechanism for broader and persistent interactions between a Bluetooth-enabled device and other wireless networks that the device encounters.
Accordingly, what is needed is an improved network protocol that enables the establishment of a known, persistent relationship between a mobile wireless device and a wireless network, such that no additional configuration is required by the user for the device to communicate over the network once the relationship has been established. The present invention addresses such a need.